I want to create a CurvePath for example
var spline = new THREE.SplineCurve3([
new THREE.Vector3(0, 0, 0),
new THREE.Vector3(1, 0, 0),
new THREE.Vector3(1, 1, 0),
]);
and I will send a particle along with path using (javascript psuedocode)
var t = 0;
function update(){
t = t + 0.05;
particle.position = spline.getPointAt(t)
}
However I want the splinecurve not to create soft bends at the edges of the shape, so for the shape above the particle will turn at a right angle at the point (1, 0, 0).
I know this should be implemented in LineCurve3 or something, but for all the other curves except for SplineCurve3, getPoint() is not implemented.
Im using THREE r59.
EDIT: THREE.Curve.create() has been deprecated. See this answer for the new pattern to follow.
To create your own curve class, a sub-class of THREE.Curve, here is the pattern to follow:
MyCurve = THREE.Curve.create(
// define the constructor (args optional)
function( points, s ) {
this.points = points;
this.myProperty = s; // add a property if you want
},
// define the getPoint() function
function( t ) {
return new THREE.Vector3( x, y, z ); // flesh this out
}
);
In your case, you can duplicate SplineCurve3 -- you just need to change the getPoint() function. To do so, you can replace this:
v.x = THREE.Curve.Utils.interpolate(pt0.x, pt1.x, pt2.x, pt3.x, weight);
v.y = THREE.Curve.Utils.interpolate(pt0.y, pt1.y, pt2.y, pt3.y, weight);
v.z = THREE.Curve.Utils.interpolate(pt0.z, pt1.z, pt2.z, pt3.z, weight);
with simple linear interpolation:
v.copy( pt1 ).lerp( pt2, weight );
three.js r.60
Related
I'm currently working on a three.js project.
One of the tasks is to rotate the ellipse around the local x axis and z axis for rx and rz degrees; and then rotate along a global axis (0,1,0) for ry degrees.
My code is this:
function createOrbit(ax, xRadius, yRadius, rx, ry, rz){
const curve = new THREE.EllipseCurve(
ax, 0, // ax, aY
xRadius, yRadius, // xRadius, yRadius
0, 2 * Math.PI, // aStartAngle, aEndAngle
false, // aClockwise
0 // aRotation
);
const points = curve.getPoints( 50 );
const geometry = new THREE.BufferGeometry().setFromPoints( points );
const material = new THREE.LineBasicMaterial( { color : 0xffff00 } );
// Create the final object to add to the scene
const ellipse = new THREE.Line( geometry, material );
ellipse.rotation.x += rx;
ellipse.rotation.z += rz;
yax = new THREE.Vector3(0,1,0);
ellipse.setRotationFromAxisAngle(yax, ry);
return ellipse;
}
However, I found that the function ellipse.setRotationFromAxisAngle(yax, ry) will eliminates the existing and reintroduce a new set of quarternion introduced by
ellipse.rotation.x += rx;
ellipse.rotation.z += rz;
Any advice how I could solve this?
Yes, that happens because any method called .set() naturally overrides whatever the previous state was. What you need to do is access the Quaternion (which is a mathematical object where all rotations are calculated) and multiply it by a new one:
ellipse.rotation.x += rx;
ellipse.rotation.z += rz;
// Create new rotation object
const yQuaternion = new THREE.Quaternion();
yQuaternion.setFromAxisAngle(yax, ry);
// Multiply the ellipse's rotation with the y-axis rotation
ellipse.quaternion.multiply(yQuaternion);
You can read more about quaternions here: https://threejs.org/docs/#api/en/math/Quaternion
Im using Oimo.js Physics library with 3 js.
I fire my arrow at a target but my math doesn't seem to be right and I'm having trouble remembering exactly how all the kinematic formulas works.
I have an attack function which creates a projectile and fires it with a 3d vector. But its not behaving how I thought it would and ended up needing to hard code a y value which doesn't really work either. Can someone point me in the correct direction? I also want the arrow to have a slight arc in its trajectory.
public attack( target: Unit, isPlayer: boolean ): void {
let collisionGroup = isPlayer ? CollisionGroup.PLAYER_PROJECTILES : CollisionGroup.ENEMY_PROJECTILES;
let collidesWithGroup = isPlayer ? CollidesWith.PLAYER_PROJECTILES : CollidesWith.ENEMY_PROJECTILES;
this.model.lookAt( target.position );
let direction: Vector3 = new Vector3( 0, 0, 0 );
direction = this.model.getWorldDirection( direction );
let value = this.calculateVelocity();
let velocity = new Vector3( direction.x * value, Math.sin( _Math.degToRad( 30 ) ) * value, direction.z * value );
let arrow = this.gameWorld.addProjectile( 'arrow3d', 'box', false, new Vector3( this.model.position.x, 5, this.model.position.z ), new Vector3( 0, 0, 0 ), false, collisionGroup, collidesWithGroup );
arrow.scale = new Vector3( 10, 10, 5 );
arrow.setVelocity( velocity );
this.playAnimation( 'attack', false );
}
protected calculateVelocity(): number {
return Math.sqrt( -2 * ( -9.8 / 60 ) * this.distanceToTarget );
}
Im dividing by 60 because of the oimo.js timestep.
I try to build molecule CH4 with threejs
But when I try to build 109.5 angle
methanum = function(x, y, z) {
molecule = new THREE.Object3D();
var startPosition = new THREE.Vector3( 0, 0, 0 );
molecule.add(atom(startPosition, "o"));
var secondPosition = new THREE.Vector3( -20, 10, 00 );
molecule.add(atom(secondPosition, "h"));
var angle = 109.5;
var matrix = new THREE.Matrix4().makeRotationAxis( new THREE.Vector3( 0, 1, 0 ), angle * ( Math.PI / 180 ));
var thirdPosition = secondPosition.applyMatrix4( matrix );
molecule.add(atom(thirdPosition, "h"));
var fourthPosition = thirdPosition.applyMatrix4( matrix );
molecule.add(atom(thirdPosition, "h"));
molecule.position.set(x, y, z);
molecule.rotation.set(x, y, z);
scene.add( molecule );
}
Demo: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/6204711/3d/ch4.html
But my atoms are not uniformly distributed as in the drawing
Some ideas?
Well there are 3 errors in your molecule code.
You place an oxygen as the center of the CH4 instead of a carbon
When you apply your fourth hydrogen, you specify the third position whereas you have created a fourthposition.
You are rotating around the wrong axis when you place your third hydrogen. My hints are the following: First of all , place your carbon, then move along the Z-axis, place your first hydrogen, rotate around the X-axis of 109.5°, place your second hydrogen, rotate around the Z-axis of 120° the position of your second hydrogen, place your third hydrogen and finally rotate once again around the Z-axis of 120° the position of your third hydrogen and place your last hydrogen.
Here is the CH4 I tried:
methanum3 = function(x, y, z) {
molecule = new THREE.Object3D();
var startPosition = new THREE.Vector3( 0, 0, 0 );
molecule.add(atom(startPosition, "c"));
var axis = new THREE.AxisHelper( 50 );
axis.position.set( 0, 0, 0 );
molecule.add( axis );
var secondPosition = new THREE.Vector3( 0, 0, -40 );
molecule.add(atom(secondPosition, "h"));
var angle = 109.5;
var matrixX = new THREE.Matrix4().makeRotationAxis( new THREE.Vector3( 1, 0, 0 ), angle * ( Math.PI / 180 ));
var thirdPosition = secondPosition.applyMatrix4( matrixX );
molecule.add(atom(thirdPosition, "h"));
var matrixZ = new THREE.Matrix4().makeRotationAxis( new THREE.Vector3( 0, 0, 1 ), 120 * ( Math.PI / 180 ));
var fourthPosition = thirdPosition.applyMatrix4( matrixZ );
molecule.add(atom(fourthPosition, "h"));
var fifthPosition = fourthPosition.applyMatrix4( matrixZ );
molecule.add(atom(fifthPosition, "h"));
molecule.position.set(x, y, z);
//molecule.rotation.set(x, y, z);
scene.add( molecule );
}
//water(0,0,0);
//water(30,60,0);
methanum3(-30,60,0);
Explanation:
Let's call H1 an hydrogen and H2 another one. The given angle of 109.5° is defined in the :
---> --->
(CH1,CH2) plane. Therefore when you look in the direction of the normal of that plane, you can see the 109.5° (Cf. the right part of the image below) BUT When you look in the direction of the normal of another plane you'll get the projection of that angle on that plane. In your case when you look in the direction of the Z-axis you can see an angle of 120°.(Cf. left part of the image below).
The two angles are different according to the direction of the camera.
Hope this helps.
(new to stackoverflow, new to webgl/three.js, ...)
I'm using three.js r54 to plot a force-directed graph. the edges between the nodes are THREE.Lines, which is fine, but lines are not selectable with a raycaster. so my aim is to take cylinders instead(/along with) of lines(also because I can do some further stuff: using textures,...)
this is what I'm doing to place the cylinders:
// init reference vector
var upVec = new THREE.Vector3(0,1,0);
//---withhin a loop---
// get direction
var direction = startPoint.subSelf(endPoint).clone();
// half length for cylinder height
var halfLength = direction.length() * 0.5;
// get offset
var offset = endPoint.clone().addSelf(direction.clone().multiplyScalar(0.5));
// normalize direc
direction.normalize();
//newUpVec = upVec - (upVec *(dot) direction) * direction - projection of direction
var newUpVec = upVec.clone().subSelf(direction.clone().multiplyScalar(upVec.dot(direction.clone()))).normalize();
var right = newUpVec.clone().crossSelf(direction.clone());
//build rotation matrix
var rot = new THREE.Matrix4(right.x, right.y, right.z, 0,
newUpVec.x, newUpVec.y, newUpVec.z, 0,
direction.x, direction.y, direction.z,0,
0,0,0,1);
//build translation matrix
var transla = new THREE.Matrix4(1, 0, 0, offset.x,
0, 1, 0, offset.y,
0, 0, 1, offset.z,
0, 0, 0, 1);
//build transformation matrix
var transfo = new THREE.Matrix4().multiply(transla, rot);
// create geometry
var cylgeo = new THREE.CylinderGeometry(2, 2, halfLength * 2, 12, 1, false);
cylgeo.applyMatrix(transfo);
var cylMesh = new THREE.Mesh(cylgeo, new THREE.MeshLambertMaterial({color:0x000000,
wireframe: true, shading: THREE.FlatShading}));
(descripted in: http://www.fastgraph.com/makegames/3drotation/ )
So the cylinders are placed at the right offset and align in some kind of way, but not to the two points (start, end) of the edges.
any suggestion would be appreciated!
using that :
object3d-rotation-to-align-to-a-vector
given 2 Vector3 and a scene:
function drawCylinder(vstart, vend,scene){
var HALF_PI = +Math.PI * .5;
var distance = vstart.distanceTo(vend);
var position = vend.clone().addSelf(vstart).divideScalar(2);
var material = new THREE.MeshLambertMaterial({color:0x0000ff});
var cylinder = new THREE.CylinderGeometry(10,10,distance,10,10,false);
var orientation = new THREE.Matrix4();//a new orientation matrix to offset pivot
var offsetRotation = new THREE.Matrix4();//a matrix to fix pivot rotation
var offsetPosition = new THREE.Matrix4();//a matrix to fix pivot position
orientation.lookAt(vstart,vend,new THREE.Vector3(0,1,0));//look at destination
offsetRotation.rotateX(HALF_PI);//rotate 90 degs on X
orientation.multiplySelf(offsetRotation);//combine orientation with rotation transformations
cylinder.applyMatrix(orientation)
var mesh = new THREE.Mesh(cylinder,material);
mesh.position=position;
scene.add(mesh);
}
r58+ code :
function drawCylinder(vstart, vend,scene){
var HALF_PI = Math.PI * .5;
var distance = vstart.distanceTo(vend);
var position = vend.clone().add(vstart).divideScalar(2);
var material = new THREE.MeshLambertMaterial({color:0x0000ff});
var cylinder = new THREE.CylinderGeometry(10,10,distance,10,10,false);
var orientation = new THREE.Matrix4();//a new orientation matrix to offset pivot
var offsetRotation = new THREE.Matrix4();//a matrix to fix pivot rotation
var offsetPosition = new THREE.Matrix4();//a matrix to fix pivot position
orientation.lookAt(vstart,vend,new THREE.Vector3(0,1,0));//look at destination
offsetRotation.makeRotationX(HALF_PI);//rotate 90 degs on X
orientation.multiply(offsetRotation);//combine orientation with rotation transformations
cylinder.applyMatrix(orientation)
var mesh = new THREE.Mesh(cylinder,material);
mesh.position=position;
scene.add(mesh);
}
#jdregister's answer didn't quite work for me in R77, since the cylinder ended up with its center at vstart (rotation and lookAt were otherwise fine).
This modification to the second last line of the R58+ answer did the trick:
mesh.position.set(position.x, position.y, position.z);
There's a very succinct answer here: https://stackoverflow.com/a/44346439/1556416
I paraphrased it here:
function drawCylinder(vstart, vend, radius){
var cylLength = new THREE.Vector3().subVectors(vend, vstart).length();
var cylGeom = new THREE.CylinderGeometry(radius, radius, cylLength, 16);
cylGeom.translate(0, cylLength / 2, 0);
cylGeom.rotateX(Math.PI / 2);
var material = new THREE.MeshLambertMaterial({color: "blue"})
var cyl = new THREE.Mesh(cylGeom, material);
cyl.position.copy(vstart);
cyl.lookAt(vend); // and do the trick with orienation
return cyl
}
In R87 the "vend.clone().add(vstart).divideScalar(2);" is not working
You can position the item like this
mesh.position.copy(start);
mesh.position.lerp(end, 0.5);
All the others from R58 are fine :)
I've searched around for an example that matches my use case but cannot find one. I'm trying to convert screen mouse co-ordinates into 3D world co-ordinates taking into account the camera.
Solutions I've found all do ray intersection to achieve object picking.
What I am trying to do is position the center of a Three.js object at the co-ordinates that the mouse is currently "over".
My camera is at x:0, y:0, z:500 (although it will move during the simulation) and all my objects are at z = 0 with varying x and y values so I need to know the world X, Y based on assuming a z = 0 for the object that will follow the mouse position.
This question looks like a similar issue but doesn't have a solution: Getting coordinates of the mouse in relation to 3D space in THREE.js
Given the mouse position on screen with a range of "top-left = 0, 0 | bottom-right = window.innerWidth, window.innerHeight", can anyone provide a solution to move a Three.js object to the mouse co-ordinates along z = 0?
You do not need to have any objects in your scene to do this.
You already know the camera position.
Using vector.unproject( camera ) you can get a ray pointing in the direction you want.
You just need to extend that ray, from the camera position, until the z-coordinate of the tip of the ray is zero.
You can do that like so:
var vec = new THREE.Vector3(); // create once and reuse
var pos = new THREE.Vector3(); // create once and reuse
vec.set(
( event.clientX / window.innerWidth ) * 2 - 1,
- ( event.clientY / window.innerHeight ) * 2 + 1,
0.5 );
vec.unproject( camera );
vec.sub( camera.position ).normalize();
var distance = - camera.position.z / vec.z;
pos.copy( camera.position ).add( vec.multiplyScalar( distance ) );
The variable pos is the position of the point in 3D space, "under the mouse", and in the plane z=0.
EDIT: If you need the point "under the mouse" and in the plane z = targetZ, replace the distance computation with:
var distance = ( targetZ - camera.position.z ) / vec.z;
three.js r.98
This worked for me when using an orthographic camera
let vector = new THREE.Vector3();
vector.set(
(event.clientX / window.innerWidth) * 2 - 1,
- (event.clientY / window.innerHeight) * 2 + 1,
0
);
vector.unproject(camera);
WebGL three.js r.89
In r.58 this code works for me:
var planeZ = new THREE.Plane(new THREE.Vector3(0, 0, 1), 0);
var mv = new THREE.Vector3(
(event.clientX / window.innerWidth) * 2 - 1,
-(event.clientY / window.innerHeight) * 2 + 1,
0.5 );
var raycaster = projector.pickingRay(mv, camera);
var pos = raycaster.ray.intersectPlane(planeZ);
console.log("x: " + pos.x + ", y: " + pos.y);
Below is an ES6 class I wrote based on WestLangley's reply, which works perfectly for me in THREE.js r77.
Note that it assumes your render viewport takes up your entire browser viewport.
class CProjectMousePosToXYPlaneHelper
{
constructor()
{
this.m_vPos = new THREE.Vector3();
this.m_vDir = new THREE.Vector3();
}
Compute( nMouseX, nMouseY, Camera, vOutPos )
{
let vPos = this.m_vPos;
let vDir = this.m_vDir;
vPos.set(
-1.0 + 2.0 * nMouseX / window.innerWidth,
-1.0 + 2.0 * nMouseY / window.innerHeight,
0.5
).unproject( Camera );
// Calculate a unit vector from the camera to the projected position
vDir.copy( vPos ).sub( Camera.position ).normalize();
// Project onto z=0
let flDistance = -Camera.position.z / vDir.z;
vOutPos.copy( Camera.position ).add( vDir.multiplyScalar( flDistance ) );
}
}
You can use the class like this:
// Instantiate the helper and output pos once.
let Helper = new CProjectMousePosToXYPlaneHelper();
let vProjectedMousePos = new THREE.Vector3();
...
// In your event handler/tick function, do the projection.
Helper.Compute( e.clientX, e.clientY, Camera, vProjectedMousePos );
vProjectedMousePos now contains the projected mouse position on the z=0 plane.
to get the mouse coordinates of a 3d object use projectVector:
var width = 640, height = 480;
var widthHalf = width / 2, heightHalf = height / 2;
var projector = new THREE.Projector();
var vector = projector.projectVector( object.matrixWorld.getPosition().clone(), camera );
vector.x = ( vector.x * widthHalf ) + widthHalf;
vector.y = - ( vector.y * heightHalf ) + heightHalf;
to get the three.js 3D coordinates that relate to specific mouse coordinates, use the opposite, unprojectVector:
var elem = renderer.domElement,
boundingRect = elem.getBoundingClientRect(),
x = (event.clientX - boundingRect.left) * (elem.width / boundingRect.width),
y = (event.clientY - boundingRect.top) * (elem.height / boundingRect.height);
var vector = new THREE.Vector3(
( x / WIDTH ) * 2 - 1,
- ( y / HEIGHT ) * 2 + 1,
0.5
);
projector.unprojectVector( vector, camera );
var ray = new THREE.Ray( camera.position, vector.subSelf( camera.position ).normalize() );
var intersects = ray.intersectObjects( scene.children );
There is a great example here. However, to use project vector, there must be an object where the user clicked. intersects will be an array of all objects at the location of the mouse, regardless of their depth.
I had a canvas that was smaller than my full window, and needed to determine the world coordinates of a click:
// get the position of a canvas event in world coords
function getWorldCoords(e) {
// get x,y coords into canvas where click occurred
var rect = canvas.getBoundingClientRect(),
x = e.clientX - rect.left,
y = e.clientY - rect.top;
// convert x,y to clip space; coords from top left, clockwise:
// (-1,1), (1,1), (-1,-1), (1, -1)
var mouse = new THREE.Vector3();
mouse.x = ( (x / canvas.clientWidth ) * 2) - 1;
mouse.y = (-(y / canvas.clientHeight) * 2) + 1;
mouse.z = 0.5; // set to z position of mesh objects
// reverse projection from 3D to screen
mouse.unproject(camera);
// convert from point to a direction
mouse.sub(camera.position).normalize();
// scale the projected ray
var distance = -camera.position.z / mouse.z,
scaled = mouse.multiplyScalar(distance),
coords = camera.position.clone().add(scaled);
return coords;
}
var canvas = renderer.domElement;
canvas.addEventListener('click', getWorldCoords);
Here's an example. Click the same region of the donut before and after sliding and you'll find the coords remain constant (check the browser console):
// three.js boilerplate
var container = document.querySelector('body'),
w = container.clientWidth,
h = container.clientHeight,
scene = new THREE.Scene(),
camera = new THREE.PerspectiveCamera(75, w/h, 0.001, 100),
controls = new THREE.MapControls(camera, container),
renderConfig = {antialias: true, alpha: true},
renderer = new THREE.WebGLRenderer(renderConfig);
controls.panSpeed = 0.4;
camera.position.set(0, 0, -10);
renderer.setPixelRatio(window.devicePixelRatio);
renderer.setSize(w, h);
container.appendChild(renderer.domElement);
window.addEventListener('resize', function() {
w = container.clientWidth;
h = container.clientHeight;
camera.aspect = w/h;
camera.updateProjectionMatrix();
renderer.setSize(w, h);
})
function render() {
requestAnimationFrame(render);
renderer.render(scene, camera);
controls.update();
}
// draw some geometries
var geometry = new THREE.TorusGeometry( 10, 3, 16, 100, );
var material = new THREE.MeshNormalMaterial( { color: 0xffff00, } );
var torus = new THREE.Mesh( geometry, material, );
scene.add( torus );
// convert click coords to world space
// get the position of a canvas event in world coords
function getWorldCoords(e) {
// get x,y coords into canvas where click occurred
var rect = canvas.getBoundingClientRect(),
x = e.clientX - rect.left,
y = e.clientY - rect.top;
// convert x,y to clip space; coords from top left, clockwise:
// (-1,1), (1,1), (-1,-1), (1, -1)
var mouse = new THREE.Vector3();
mouse.x = ( (x / canvas.clientWidth ) * 2) - 1;
mouse.y = (-(y / canvas.clientHeight) * 2) + 1;
mouse.z = 0.0; // set to z position of mesh objects
// reverse projection from 3D to screen
mouse.unproject(camera);
// convert from point to a direction
mouse.sub(camera.position).normalize();
// scale the projected ray
var distance = -camera.position.z / mouse.z,
scaled = mouse.multiplyScalar(distance),
coords = camera.position.clone().add(scaled);
console.log(mouse, coords.x, coords.y, coords.z);
}
var canvas = renderer.domElement;
canvas.addEventListener('click', getWorldCoords);
render();
html,
body {
width: 100%;
height: 100%;
background: #000;
}
body {
margin: 0;
overflow: hidden;
}
canvas {
width: 100%;
height: 100%;
}
<script src='https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/three.js/97/three.min.js'></script>
<script src=' https://threejs.org/examples/js/controls/MapControls.js'></script>
ThreeJS is slowly mowing away from Projector.(Un)ProjectVector and the solution with projector.pickingRay() doesn't work anymore, just finished updating my own code.. so the most recent working version should be as follow:
var rayVector = new THREE.Vector3(0, 0, 0.5);
var camera = new THREE.PerspectiveCamera(fov,this.offsetWidth/this.offsetHeight,0.1,farFrustum);
var raycaster = new THREE.Raycaster();
var scene = new THREE.Scene();
//...
function intersectObjects(x, y, planeOnly) {
rayVector.set(((x/this.offsetWidth)*2-1), (1-(y/this.offsetHeight)*2), 1).unproject(camera);
raycaster.set(camera.position, rayVector.sub(camera.position ).normalize());
var intersects = raycaster.intersectObjects(scene.children);
return intersects;
}
For those using #react-three/fiber (aka r3f and react-three-fiber), I found this discussion and it's associated code samples by Matt Rossman helpful. In particular, many examples using the methods above are for simple orthographic views, not for when OrbitControls are in play.
Discussion: https://github.com/pmndrs/react-three-fiber/discussions/857
Simple example using Matt's technique: https://codesandbox.io/s/r3f-mouse-to-world-elh73?file=/src/index.js
More generalizable example: https://codesandbox.io/s/react-three-draggable-cxu37?file=/src/App.js
Here is my take at creating an es6 class out of it. Working with Three.js r83. The method of using rayCaster comes from mrdoob here: Three.js Projector and Ray objects
export default class RaycasterHelper
{
constructor (camera, scene) {
this.camera = camera
this.scene = scene
this.rayCaster = new THREE.Raycaster()
this.tapPos3D = new THREE.Vector3()
this.getIntersectsFromTap = this.getIntersectsFromTap.bind(this)
}
// objects arg below needs to be an array of Three objects in the scene
getIntersectsFromTap (tapX, tapY, objects) {
this.tapPos3D.set((tapX / window.innerWidth) * 2 - 1, -(tapY /
window.innerHeight) * 2 + 1, 0.5) // z = 0.5 important!
this.tapPos3D.unproject(this.camera)
this.rayCaster.set(this.camera.position,
this.tapPos3D.sub(this.camera.position).normalize())
return this.rayCaster.intersectObjects(objects, false)
}
}
You would use it like this if you wanted to check against all your objects in the scene for hits. I made the recursive flag false above because for my uses I did not need it to be.
var helper = new RaycasterHelper(camera, scene)
var intersects = helper.getIntersectsFromTap(tapX, tapY,
this.scene.children)
...
Although the provided answers can be useful in some scenarios, I hardly can imagine those scenarios (maybe games or animations) because they are not precise at all (guessing around target's NDC z?). You can't use those methods to unproject screen coordinates to the world ones if you know target z-plane. But for the most scenarios, you should know this plane.
For example, if you draw sphere by center (known point in model space) and radius - you need to get radius as delta of unprojected mouse coordinates - but you can't! With all due respect #WestLangley's method with targetZ doesn't work, it gives incorrect results (I can provide jsfiddle if needed). Another example - you need to set orbit controls target by mouse double click, but without "real" raycasting with scene objects (when you have nothing to pick).
The solution for me is to just create the virtual plane in target point along z-axis and use raycasting with this plane afterward. Target point can be current orbit controls target or vertex of object you need to draw step by step in existing model space etc. This works perfectly and it is simple (example in typescript):
screenToWorld(v2D: THREE.Vector2, camera: THREE.PerspectiveCamera = null, target: THREE.Vector3 = null): THREE.Vector3 {
const self = this;
const vNdc = self.toNdc(v2D);
return self.ndcToWorld(vNdc, camera, target);
}
//get normalized device cartesian coordinates (NDC) with center (0, 0) and ranging from (-1, -1) to (1, 1)
toNdc(v: THREE.Vector2): THREE.Vector2 {
const self = this;
const canvasEl = self.renderers.WebGL.domElement;
const bounds = canvasEl.getBoundingClientRect();
let x = v.x - bounds.left;
let y = v.y - bounds.top;
x = (x / bounds.width) * 2 - 1;
y = - (y / bounds.height) * 2 + 1;
return new THREE.Vector2(x, y);
}
ndcToWorld(vNdc: THREE.Vector2, camera: THREE.PerspectiveCamera = null, target: THREE.Vector3 = null): THREE.Vector3 {
const self = this;
if (!camera) {
camera = self.camera;
}
if (!target) {
target = self.getTarget();
}
const position = camera.position.clone();
const origin = self.scene.position.clone();
const v3D = target.clone();
self.raycaster.setFromCamera(vNdc, camera);
const normal = new THREE.Vector3(0, 0, 1);
const distance = normal.dot(origin.sub(v3D));
const plane = new THREE.Plane(normal, distance);
self.raycaster.ray.intersectPlane(plane, v3D);
return v3D;
}